


Blueberry Macadamia

by localspacelesbian



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Baking, Family Bonding, Gen, M/M, Muffins, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Siblings, we don't talk about the fact that cyrus is a child of divorce enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 08:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19081138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: Cyrus bonds with his stepmom through baking.





	Blueberry Macadamia

For the first seven years of his life, Cyrus thought his parents had the perfect marriage. They loved each other, and they both loved him. They were happy. Until they weren’t. They tried to keep it together in front of him. Until they didn’t. It was gradual at first. His mom and dad stopped showing each other any affection and then just kind of stopped talking to each other. Their conversations started to consist of mostly formalities like “What should we have for dinner?” and “Who’s picking up Cyrus from school today?” and then devolved further into almost exclusively passive aggressive comments. When the two of them were in a room together, there was this tense feeling in the air that Cyrus didn’t know how to describe, but he didn’t like it. He was glad that he had made two best friends at around the same time, so he could spend most of his time with them. He never told Buffy and Andi why he didn’t like spending time in his own house, and they never asked.

He wasn’t sure what the final straw was, what it was that set his parents off that day. But suddenly, it wasn’t just passive aggressive comments and pointedly ignoring each other anymore; they were screaming at each other. He couldn’t stand it. They didn’t even notice when he ran away; they were too caught up in whatever they were fighting about.

He ran to the first place he thought of: the park. He sat on the swing, singing the song his mom had taught him and trying not to think about his parents’ faces as they yelled at each other. He wasn’t sure how long he had been there when Buffy and her parents found him. He barely registered what they said to him as they led him to their car and then into their house. He stayed in Buffy’s room that night. She didn’t know what was going on, but she held him as she cried. She said it was “just another service I provide.” That was the night Cyrus decided Buffy was going to be his best friend forever, no matter what.

The next day, after Buffy’s dad dropped him off at his house, his parents told him they were getting a divorce and explained what that meant. A week later, he was in therapy. Because if there was one thing his parents could agree on, it was that they were going to do whatever they could to not let this situation mess him up (too much).

At first, he wasn’t sure what to make of this “Dr. Frank.” He knew his parents were therapists too, and they had talked to him about their jobs quite a bit, but he didn’t know what it would be like to be the one on the other side.

Dr. Frank (or Sharon as she told him to call her) was nice. She explained the concept of doctor-patient-confidentiality by making him a pink-promise that everything he told her would stay just between them; she wouldn’t tell his parents anything he didn’t want her to. Once she got him talking, he couldn’t stop. He probably wouldn’t have made it through the whole bitter divorce process without her. (He loved Buffy and Andi, but they didn’t really understand what was going on.) She was there for him through all the fights and court dates and custody battles and stress. She just listened to him about whatever he wanted to talk about and gave him advice when he needed it.

When his dad moved out of the house and into an apartment across town, his mom’s house became too quiet, which was only barely better than the fighting. His parents ended up getting joint custody of him, so he switched between his mom’s and his dad’s every two weeks. Buffy’s, Andi’s, and Sharon’s houses started to feel more like home to him than either of his parents’ houses.

He was eight years old the day Sharon sat him down and told him she couldn’t be his therapist anymore because she and his dad had started dating. Cyrus found himself back at the swings again. She had explained the ethical and legal problems with the situation. He wanted to be happy for his dad for finding someone as nice as Sharon, but he didn’t want things to change. Even when his dad moved out, even when the divorce officially went through, none of it quite felt real until now that his parents were starting to date again. He never really expected them to get back together, but he also hadn’t thought about what it would be like when they moved on from each other. It was weird. He didn’t really know how he felt about it, so he just sat there, swinging and singing, and trying to clear his head.

Eventually, he accepted it. It helped that Sharon was still in his life, just in a different way. He could still talk to her when he needed to, just in a less formal setting now. In his head, he still referred to her as his therapist, even though he knew that he probably shouldn’t.

In an effort to transition their relationship from her being just his therapist to her being his dad’s girlfriend, Sharon tried finding things for them to do to bond. Nothing really seemed to stick. Everytime she dragged him to another “bonding activity,” it felt forced and kind of uncomfortable, but he knew how important it was to his dad, and he appreciated the effort. It was just so different trying to Do things together when before, they had mostly just talked about his problems.

After a couple months of this, Sharon suggested that the two make a cake together for his dad’s birthday. She didn’t exactly have a ton of baking experience, and he was eight, so he had exactly none, but it did seem like a nice thing to do, so they tried their best. It did not turn out well, but they had a lot of fun making it, and his dad (claimed that he) loved it.

Because they had so much fun, they decided to try baking more often. It ended up being a pretty good way for them to bond. While whatever they were making was in the oven, they could talk to each other while they cleaned up the kitchen. He could still tell her pretty much everything. He talked to her about his mom’s new boyfriend Todd. He talked to her about school and his friends. They made cakes and other desserts for pretty much every birthday and holiday and just for fun. They even got pretty into some baking shows on TV. By the time his dad and Sharon got married, they decided they were even up to the task of making their wedding cake, which turned out… well not exactly professional quality, but pretty good. (When his mom and Todd got married a few months later, they opted to buy their cake.) His dad was glad that they were getting along (and that he got some food out of it). If his mom wasn’t exactly happy about him being so close to Sharon, she managed to hide it pretty well because she was glad that he was happy. And of course he still told her things and did things with her too. She and Todd took him to museums and the zoo and the aquarium and always bought him something from the gift shops. He sometimes felt like he couldn’t tell his mom things because he knew she was the town gossip, and while he knew she wouldn’t tell anyone something if it was important, there was still that fear in the back if his mind. He loved all of his parents, but there was just something different about his relationship with his stepmom.

As he got into middle school and both of them became more busy, they started to bake together less often: mostly just for his dad’s birthday and some holidays. He didn’t mind though. He understood that she was busy with work, and he had school and his friends.

 

 

Even though it had been a while since they had baked together, as soon as he lost his bet with TJ and had to get him a muffin, Cyrus knew that he wanted to bake them with his stepmom. The Sunday about a week after Buffy’s basketball tryouts was the perfect day for them to do it; he was at his dad’s that week, and his dad was out playing golf all day. So, that day, he and Sharon found a recipe, went shopping, and got baking.

Once they got started, Cyrus almost forgot that they hadn’t baked together in months; everything flowed just like it used to. They moved around the kitchen effortlessly, talking while measuring ingredients and mixing them. He caught her up on his life, and she told him a little about hers. (She generally tried to avoid complaining about his dad because she knew it upset him, and there was only so much she could say about her job without breaking doctor-patient-confidentiality, but she always managed to come up with some stories to share to make sure the conversations weren’t one-sided, now that she wasn’t his therapist anymore.)

Throughout the conversation though, Cyrus couldn’t help but hear a voice in the back of his mind reminding him that there was something he was leaving out. It felt weird to have something that he felt like he couldn’t tell her, and sometimes it was exhausting constantly watching what he said to make sure he didn’t tell her on accident. He didn’t even really know why he hadn’t told his parents yet; he knew they would be supportive, and he usually told them everything about his life, especially Sharon. But it was still scary. But maybe it was time to start telling them, and it would probably be easiest to start with Sharon. (He knew his mom would be pissed when she found out that he told his step mom before he told her, but he didn’t really care; that was her problem.)

It felt like the right time. He always told her things like this while they were baking together. (Not that there had ever really been something like This before.) He knew that everything would be fine, so why was he so nervous?

She put the muffins in the oven and set the timer.

“Sharon?” He hoped his voice didn’t sound as small to her as it did to him.

She turned to look at him and instantly her face was filled with concern. So, so much for that hope. “Cyrus? Are you okay?”

“Can I tell you something?”

She took a step closer to him and looked at him with her ‘therapist face.’ “Of course, Cyrus. You know you can always tell me anything.”

“You promise you won’t tell anyone? Not even dad or anyone else in the family?”

She looked concerned again but it was gone in a moment and then she just smiled and held up her pinky.

He couldn’t  help but smile back at that and relax a little as he held up his own pinky and linked it with hers. He knew it was cheesy, but it was something they had done ever since the day they first met when she was just his therapist.

He took a deep breath.

“I’m gay.”

He studied her face for some kind of reaction. He saw a flicker of shock, but then it was gone.

“Oh.” She smiled at him and then reached over to hold his hands. “You know I love you, right? We all do.” He nodded. “Thank you for trusting me with this.” She hugged him and held him tight.

“I love you too,” he whispered as he hugged her back.

She pulled away from him and wiped his tears away. He didn’t even remember when he started to cry. She kept holding his hands and smiling at him. “I am always going to be here to support you, no matter what, whatever you need.”

He nodded back. “Thank you.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He shrugged. “I don’t really know what else to say.” He moved away and started putting the dirty dishes in the sink. It’s not that he didn’t want to talk about it; he just hadn’t planned this far ahead, so he didn’t know what to say.

“Well, am I allowed to ask questions?” She followed his lead and also started to clean up the mess they had made in the kitchen.

He shrugged again. “I guess.”

She nodded. “So, how long have you known?”

“Um… I guess since around the time I dated Iris. That’s uh kind of why we broke up.”

“I see.” She seemed to think for a second before continuing. “Does anyone else know?”

“Just Buffy and Andi.”

“Oh, well, that’s good. I’m glad you have them.”  
“Me too.”

“You don’t have some secret boyfriend or something do you?”

He looked at her in shock and then realised that she was joking. He almost laughed. “Ha, I wish. Unfortunately, I think I’m doomed to only have crushes on straight guys, so I doubt I’ll be getting a boyfriend anytime soon, and if I do, I don’t think I’d be able to hide it from you.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m sure there are lots of guys who’d want to date you. What about TJ?”

“What about TJ?”

“Well, you two seem close. And we are making these muffins for him, right?”  
“I told, that’s just because I lost a bet. It’s completely platonic. Besides, he’s the captain of the basketball team.”

“What does that have to do with anything.” He just looked at her. “Oh come on, you should know better than to stereotype. Besides, I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” He turned away, so she wouldn’t see his blush.

His phone vibrated on the counter, and they both looked at it.

“I bet that’s him,” she teased.

Cyrus rolled his eyes and picked it up. He couldn’t help but hope that she was right and be disappointed when she wasn’t, but he tried not to show it. “It’s Andi.” He showed her his phone to prove it before reading what the message said. “She invited me to get dinner with her and her dad at The Spoon. Can I?”

“Of course, after the muffins are done. But don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing. You’re just trying to get out of talking to me about your crush.”

He just stuck her tongue out at her and texted Andi. She rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning.

After he finished texting Andi, he put his phone down and went back to cleaning. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never told you I had a crush.”

He could feel her giving him a Look, even though his back was too her, but he refused to turn around. Eventually, the silence became too much, and he gave in. “Ok, fine, maybe I kind of like TJ, but it doesn’t matter because nothing’s going to happen.”

He could tell she wanted to say more, but he was saved by the oven beeping. She opened it and tested a muffin with a toothpick. They were done, so she took them out.

She sighed. “Ok, they’re done. Do you want a ride to the Spoon?”

Part of him didn’t want to be forced to sit in a car with her when he knew she was going to try to continue this conversation, but he really didn’t like walking, especially when he had been standing for the past couple hours. “Uh sure. I’m gonna go get cleaned up first though.”

He grabbed his phone and almost ran to his bedroom to change. As per usual, he had managed to get flour everywhere. After he was satisfied that he looked presentable, he texted Andi and walked out to the living room when Sharon was waiting.

She was suspiciously quiet throughout the whole drive. They stopped in front of The Spoon, and she spoke before he had a chance to get out of the car. She was still looking ahead. “Look, I’m not going to pressure you to talk about crushes or relationship stuff. I know this is all new territory for us. And being gay is your thing, and you get to decide how and when you talk about it. But I want you to know that you can always talk to me about anything.” They both looked each other then and smiled. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it briefly before letting go again.

“Thank you, Sharon.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He was about to open the door when she stopped him again. “And Cyrus.” He looked at her. “I hope TJ appreciates those muffins.”

He smiled at her and then got out of the car.

He took a deep breath and walked into The Spoon.

 

 

When he walked into The Spoon, Cyrus was immediately attacked by a hug from Andi. As she dragged him toward the booth where her parents were sitting, she asked him, “So how did the muffins turn out?”

“I think they turned out ok. I haven’t actually tried one yet though.” He answered her as he sat down.

Bex looked up at the mention of food. “Ooh you made muffins? What kind and do we get any?”

“Blueberry macadamia nut and no.”

“Oh, are those for TJ?” They all looked up and saw that Amber had appeared to take their order and was smiling at him in a knowing way.

Cyrus was confused. “How did you know that?”

“Because who else likes blueberry macadamia nut muffins? Also, he told me about your bet.”

This time, Andi spoke up. “I didn’t even know you two knew each other.”

Amber raised her eyebrow. “He’s my brother. You didn’t know that?” They all just stared blankly back at her.

“Well, you’ve never mentioned it.” Andi pointed out.

Cyrus agreed. “And neither has he. I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

“I feel like I should be insulted by that.”

“Wait, so the annoying little brother you complain about all the time, that’s TJ? I feel like I suddenly know so much more about him than I’m supposed to. I know he doesn’t like to talk about his family, but I can’t believe he didn’t even tell me that you’re his sister.”

Amber shrugged and looked like she was about to say something else when Bex interrupted them. “Ok, I get that you just had like a life-changing revelation or whatever, but I’m hungry. Can we order our food now?”

“Sorry.” Cyrus and Amber spoke at the same time and then looked at each other and laughed. Then, she pulled out her notebook and pencil to take their orders.

By the end of dinner, Cyrus made Amber promise not tell tell TJ that she had told him they were siblings, and Amber made Cyrus promise to bring her a muffin.

 

The next morning, Cyrus brought a tupperware with two muffins to school. He sat down at a table in front of the school to wait for TJ. When he saw him approach, got up and walked towards him holding out the tupperware. “Here you go: one blueberry macadamia nut muffin. My debt has been paid.”

TJ smiled as he took the tupperware, but then raised his eyebrow as he looked inside. “Ok, I know I’m not great with numbers, but there are definitely two muffins in here.”

“Oh? Right, the second one is for your sister.” Cyrus smiled innocently back at TJ.

“My sister?” TJ’s smile fell.

“You know. The one you didn’t tell me you had. Amber?”

“She told you?”

Cyrus nodded. “Yeah, last night at The Spoon. How come you didn’t?”

“I don’t know. I guess it just never came up? Are you mad at me?”

“TJ, of course I’m not mad at you. I just can’t believe neither of you ever told me until now. I mean, Amber spends half our conversations complaining about her family, and somehow it never came up that it was you she was talking about.” TJ looked slightly horrified at that. “And I get why you don’t like talking about your family. I guess that’s part of your stuff?” TJ nodded. “Well, if you ever do want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“I know. Thank you.” The two started walking toward the school together. “So, how much has Amber told you about me?”

“Oh not too much…” Cyrus smirked at him.

TJ groaned and bumped his shoulder against Cyrus’s. Cyrus just laughed, and the two walked into the school, their shoulders almost touching and hands occasionally brushing against each other.


End file.
